Weed: a plant considered, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden. (American Heritage Dictionary)
I have written about my enjoyment of gardening in past post. I think in order to to have a productive, beautiful garden, the most important task is to keep the weeds out. Weeds, if allowed to grow in the garden, can take needed moisture and nutrients from your desired plants, and if left to mature, they can produce numerous seeds that will present a problem for years to come.
When my children were young and wanted to help me in the garden , I would ask them to chop or pull the weeds out. It didn't take me long to realize, they did not know a tomato plant from a weed. I just assumed they knew. I was wrong. I had to teach them the difference between an vegetable plant and weeds. Also, I had to explain why we chopped the weeds out.
I explained to them that a good gardener can identify the different weeds and chop them out, because if you allow them to remain, they will produce hundreds of seeds that will sprout every year. Eventually, the once beautiful and productive garden is lost to the weeds.
All gardens have weeds, but only productive ones are weed free from daily weeding by the gardener.
The christian life is like a garden. When a person becomes a christian they are babes in Christ, just like a newly planted garden. To grow and be fruitful in the Kingdom , they must know how to identify sin (weeds) and each day work not allowing sin to get rooted in their life. Like in the garden, they can't allow any sin (weed) to stand. Sin left in your heart will only spread and choke out your christian life. A christian must be vigilant every day, the same as a good gardener weeding his garden each day.
What would happen if I didn't train my children to properly identify weeds and to chop them out? Or what if they left some weeds to grow because they looked pretty to them? What if they mistakenly left the weeds they called good and chopped out the good garden plants which produce good fruit because these plants did not look as good as the weeds? How long would it take for that once beautiful, productive garden to get choked out by the weeds my children let stand because they liked the way weeds looked in the garden.
Weeds in the garden, if left to stand and grow, choke out the plants that provide food and nourishment to us, and they eventually are left dead or unproductive.
Sin in the heart does the same thing to a Christian's life. Sin if allowed to be full grown, brings spiritual death. (James 1:14-15) (NKJV)
I learned to identify weeds from my parents, but specifically from a weed science class I took in college. I also learned from my parents what was sin. Then as I read God's word, I learned the different types of sin, their causes, and the results of practicing them. To be a faithful Christian, I cannot call any sin good, let it grow, and manifest in my life. It would be as unproductive, as a garden overcome with weeds, and my christian life would be choked out to die.
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20) (NKJV) When I leave a sin in my life that I like participating in, am I calling evil good? When the leaders of this great country support what God calls an abomination as good, and protects it with laws, and those who call this evil are called several names and may even be arrested, is this what Isaiah 5:20 is referring to ?
When I enjoy a beautiful garden, my desire is to keep it beautiful and to keep the weeds out. All of them! No weed should be desirable to me because of its harm to the garden. To enjoy a beautiful Christian life I must have the desire to love God with all my heart, soul, and mind. The actions that God calls sin, I must also call sin and not let it have a place in my heart.
Can I change from a sinful life? (Read in 1Cor. 6:9-11) If I call myself a Christian can I continue allowing the sins of the past in my life that the goodness of God's grace will over look? (Read Romans 6:1-6)
What happens when I am tempted and sin on occasion? Continue to walk in the light confessing the sin and the blood of Christ washes the sin away. (Read 1John 1:1-5)
By the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we now have weeds in our gardens, and sin in this world, because of their disobedience to God's command. But God loves us so much, that He already had a plan if place that would wash that sin away and make us righteous before Him.
In our country today we have a sin problem. It seems that we are at the place of no return, but with God all things are possible. (Read Matthew 19:25-26)
Allowing weeds to remain and grow in the garden never has and never will be productive. Common sense tells us this and also we can see it with our own eyes. Allowing sin to flourish in the churches and this country does the same thing. Do we not have eyes to see this?
Can you imagine what the world and our country would be like if every one who claims to be a christian, spoke the same thing, identified sin as God does, called evil for what it is, and embraced the goodness of God?
The cost of doing this will not run our country's deficit up. The price has already been paid. God's Son, Jesus, died on the cross and paid it in full. Some do not believe in God nor His Son, or they believe in Him, but do not follow Him in the way He has instructed. We can perfectly see the results of this today. Our garden is overtaken by weeds and is now non productive and almost choked out.
What if we all pitched in and chopped the garden out? How would we do it?
For a start, we all need to read, 2Ch 7:14 and James 4:10 and believe it. Do you believe God's ways or man's ways can get us out of this mess? I think I will go with God's. You do remember He created us and the whole universe? He sure did not create this mess we are in today. ( I believe man did.) I think I am going to go with God's way.
This does not begin with someone else. It starts with me. I need to identify any weeds in my garden and then eagerly and lovingly help my brothers and sisters in humanity to do the same.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". (Philippians 3:13) (NKJV)
Can I do this? Can you? Can we do it together? If we do not desire to take any action, what will our grand children's garden look like? Will it be our fault if they lose their garden to weeds?
Please send this to all of your friends and family to read and pass on. Let us have courage to follow God and His ways instead of man's. Do you think we can do this with God's help? Let me know if there is a better solution out there, because if we continue on the path we are on, it is leading us to definitely a huge weed patch.
Please have the courage to comment at rhepler52@gmail.com or rhepler52@yahoo.com . All comments are confidential.
Thank you so much for reading this and the encouragement you always give.
Rick
